


I Await Thee, at the Appointed Place.

by Geritashipper123



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: AU of an AU, Based off another fanfic, Blanket Permission, M/M, Reunions, Spock Prime is old and does not care anymore, Weddings, established relationships - Freeform, questionable desisions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 02:18:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10710117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geritashipper123/pseuds/Geritashipper123
Summary: Logically, Spock knew this; it was a horrible idea. Absolutely terrible.It wasn't going to stop him though.





	I Await Thee, at the Appointed Place.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ThereBeWhalesHere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThereBeWhalesHere/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Sha Ka Ree](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9488996) by [ThereBeWhalesHere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThereBeWhalesHere/pseuds/ThereBeWhalesHere). 



> OKAY GUYS  
> So first of all- STOP READING.  
> STOP READING RIGHT NOW, GO READ SHA KA REE, THE LINK IS RIGHT UP THERE IN THE INSPIRED BY THING. GO READ IT RIGHT NOW THIS INSTANT. CRY. LOOK OUT A WINDOW AND THINK ABOUT LIFE. FEEL ALL THE THINGS AND LEAVE A NICE COMMENT.
> 
> did you do that? Good.  
> this fic is based off Sha Ka Ree and will absolutely make zero sense if you don't read that.  
> Dedicated to lissy- thanks for letting me write this, I loved it :3

Logically, Spock knew this; it was a  _ horrible  _ idea. Absolutely terrible. 

This planet had trapped him and Jim  _ millennium _ in the past for  _ two years.  _ They’d both almost died several times over and readjusting to life after Alpha Novus V- to life after  _ Sha Ka Ree  _ had been… not impossible, because they certainly did it, but those four months of leave where he kept himself away from Jim… well, they’d been difficult. Years later he still had trouble sleeping on mattresses, still had dreams of bulldogs, and ion storms that shook the world, of Captain Pike’s face, of the oasis, of  _ generations of Vulcans…  _

Of Jim. Jim who never cut his hair quite as short after and till the end of his days favored his good leg despite not technically having a  _ bad  _ one anymore. Who still insisted on using the little chess pieces he had made himself despite a perfectly good set right there. Who would occasionally kiss the faint scars they both still had, and whisper how  _ sometimes it still feels like a big long dream. _

Truly, Spock’s very long life could be divided into four- before, during, after, and after Jim. The  _ after Jim  _ period was the worst, and it was of course the one he was trapped in. And there was no wormhole that could get him out of this one though. 

And he’d had more than enough wormholes for one lifetime. 

And yet, here he was. Planning. After Khan had happened to this young crew (and it was nothing like how it had happened in his universe- he had awful memories of Jim’s grief. Terrible, horrible days when Jim had debated the merits of taking his own life because  _ what was the point without Spock?  _ Thoughts like that simply validated the concerns about their codependency, and for the first time he understood why that diagnosis had been a bad thing) Jim and Spock had… well, they didn’t have a marriage but they were close. Spock still found it amazing that they hadn’t met on Sha Ka Ree, and it was so utterly strange to see how he would have turned out if he hadn’t had that experience.

Surprisingly, he and his young counterpart weren’t that different. 

The point was this: Spock and Jim of this time had never experienced Alpha Novus V.

And there was one equation, one way of working things, that was permanently ingrained in his mind. And that was how to safely get on and off of Alpha Novus V- commonly known in the first scientific papers written about the planet by planet’s first and only surviving scientist inhabitant S’chn T’Gai Spock Kirk, as Sha Ka Ree.

 

* * *

 

In the years after, Jim and Spock had spent a long time in therapy offices and telling their story and such, ensuring that what happened to them would never happen to anyone else. In the process of healing, one of the ways Spock had coped was by tweaking. 

The equations he and Jim had used to get through the wormhole web were something they would never forget- even in Jim’s later years when his memory began to slip, he could always recite with perfect accuracy the details of how to escape. He wrote a book about it not long before… before the end of After and the beginning of After Jim. Before the  _ Enterprise-B. _

Before the universe had taken Spock’s heart and ripped it to shreds.

In this new universe, Alpha Novus’ energy readings hadn’t changed, but he left very careful instructions for starfleet and others incase something went wrong.

This was one of the only times he broke his vow of non interference- while what happened to he and Jim had ultimately worked out, the perhaps  _ thousands  _ of bodies littered on that planet more than justified ensuring that Starfleet made sure to never allow anyone to go there. 

He was, of course, breaking that rule by bringing Jim and Spock there. 

Ah well, he learned his worst habits form from the best of people.

 

* * *

 

_ “Selek, are you sure this is a good idea?”  _ Doctor McCoy asked over comm for the 47,560th time. And for the 47,560th time, Spock nodded. 

“We will be fine.” He repeated “I am quite possibly the only person in the universe who can assure that.”

_ “And what's so important again?” _

“I merely think they will benefit from it.” Selek replied innocently. He knew that Doctor McCoy had only agreed because Jim had begged and because he was indulging Selek- how strange that the wishes of an old man held more power than an admirals word when asked right. Was that why so many admirals were old? (Jim had become an admiral, he was not old was he?) 

Doctor McCoy sighed, then nodded.  _ “Let's be clear- I  _ will  _ see you three in four days or I’m gonna kick your ass, I don't care if you're old.” _

“As you wish.” Selek said, holding up a ta’al. Doctor McCoy cut the connection, and Selek rose from his seat to go into the cockpit area of the shuttle. 

Jim looked up from the pilot's seat and smiled, and he had to admit that when Jim smiled he looked so much like  _ Selek’s  _ Jim. 

“Your turn?” He asked, and Selek nodded once. Jim slid out, let Selek sit. 

“Little you isn’t done meditating yet?” He asked, and Selek shook his head as he buckled in and took the controls. 

“You are excited.” He commented after a moment, and Jim grinned a bit. “Oh yeah, I am. You’ve told me way too much about this place.” 

“Keep in mind- I  _ am  _ biased.”

“Still excited.”

“I would expect nothing less from you.”

“Are we approaching?” A new voice said, and both looked up as Spock slid into the seat behind Jim. Selek nodded.

“You are both certain of this?” Selek asked once more “this is your last opportunity to turn around.”

Jim and Spock glanced at one another, then shook their heads. Selek smiled. Truly, they hadn’t changed that much. Then he let his smile slip away, and his face get hard. “Buckle in. It is a very rough ride.” (He still had nightmares about Jim’s hand slipping from his.)

They obeyed, and if Spock closed his eyes he could just picture it was the first time, that Captain Pike was there and that there was a very different Jim with different eyes in a different shirt sitting in the shuttle with him.

 

* * *

 

The shuttle survived, this time, and Selek feels like he might cry. 

It's…

It's exactly as he remembers. 

The trees are white bark, the leaves are red and oh god, it's beautiful. It's so beautiful. He steps out of the shuttle, breathes it all in. It comes back like riding a bike- he recognizes this part of the forest and instantly he knows the distance and direction to home, what time of day it is, where the nearest fruit bearing tree is. It is approaching the midday period when Jim would sleep and Selek would meditate. They have just enough time to get to the cave. He looks back- Jim and Spock are staring at him.

“Come, we must make haste before it gets too hot.” He explains, and they both nod, grabbing the bags. They each had five phasers, not taking any chances with the bulldogs. Along with that were lots of bottles of water and, while Selek remembered perfectly how to get food, he had decided it would be better if they brought their own food as well. 

Selek led the way, and felt a growing sense of… something eat at his gut. He didn’t know why, as he mindlessly walked the same path, he felt apprehensive. Perhaps he was just excited to see the cave again? He had called it home for so long… yes, sitting at the mouth of his home and swimming in the oasis. That was what he would do first. 

“Selek?” 

He turned, looking at Jim. He was staring at the ground. “Selek, there's tracks here.” 

Selek blinked “mine?”

“No they're- the feet are bigger. And they’re old.” 

Selek stared, his heart tightened. He realized that this path was trodden, as if it had been walked many times. 

“This is my Sha Ka Ree.” He whispered. “Those are- this is  _ my  _ Sha Ka Ree.” He raised his head “we are in  _ my  _ universe.” 

Jim stared, Spock looked blatantly shocked. But they weren’t staring at him.

“Spock.” A new voice whispered, and Selek moved so fast-

He looked as beautiful as the day Selek had lost him, as serene as he had while they lived here. His hair had grown out again. 

“Jim.” Selek whispered, and there were no other words he could speak. 

In a flash Jim was across the few feet before them, clutching Selek to his chest. Selek clung to him, pressing against him. 

He didn’t need anything else.

 

* * *

 

“When I got crushed by that bridge, I ended up in the Nexus some how but it didn't work this time. I kept thinking about you, kept wanting you-” Jim squeezed his hand “it brought me back here. I figured I’d just live out the rest of my life here.”

“How long have you been here?” Selek asked softly, and Jim smiled sadly “about 6 years. It wasn’t nearly as pleasant without you.”

Selek stared at him, and Jim smiled gently “it's okay. Don’t blame yourself.”

“You’re really me.” The young Kirk whispered “I just- holy  _ shit  _ man. I’ve heard so much about you.”

Jim laughed, glancing back. “Thanks. Your boyfriend is cute by the way.”

Kirk winked, Spock blushed, and Selek stopped walking.

“Ah- here we are.” Jim said, and Selek was gaping.

_ Starfleet Headquarters.  _ Something as simple as a sign made his heart sing. Jim gently led them inside- their food stocks, the fire, their  _ blankets.  _ God the bulldog skins. The familiar smell and just-

“We’re home.” Jim muttered, and Selek nodded in agreement. Over a century later and it was just that, home. 

“You two lived here for two whole years?” Kirk asked, and Jim nodded, yawning a little. “How much did Spock tell you two?”

“Not a lot. How you two escaped.” Spock responded for Kirk, and Jim hummed. “Well, midday is approaching, and it’s too hot to do much of anything, so that’s naptime-slash-meditation time. After that… we could show you guys the oasis. Or the-” He faltered, glancing at Selek. “Let’s stick with the oasis for now.”

Kirk shrugged, setting down his bags and walking around the cave a few times. Spock sat by the blankets, clearly intending to meditate. Jim ducked down, leaning in to whisper to Selek. “And you?” 

“I do not believe it will be appropriate if our counterparts come to the oasis with us.” Selek muttered in reply. There were just too many memories of the oasis, too many memories of… Selek flushed lightly, and Jim grinned. “Why don’t you two sleep and meditate, then meet us at the oasis? It’s right down there, you’ll find it.”

Kirk nodded, and Spock nodded once as well. 

Jim squeezed Selek’s hand. There was nothing else to be said.

 

* * *

 

“The shuttle blew up.” Selek said, quite suddenly. “The shuttle was destroyed and me and our young counterparts are dead, and I am in heaven.”

The warm chest under his ear moved with Jim’s laughter. “Not that you’re not beautiful like this, but I get the feeling that if you were dead we wouldn’t have joint pain and aloe would appear magically when we need it.” 

“You are ageist.” Selek accused, and Jim laughed again, suddenly rolling them over so that Selek was on his back and Jim was above him. 

“I am  _ not.”  _ Jim protested, leaning in and nipping at Selek’s neck. The Vulcan shuddered. “Jim- Jim we should dress-”

“No.”

_ “Jim  _ our counterparts-”

“They can deal with it. Do you know how many times I wished that our clothes had been completely destroyed in the crash? We could have ran around for two years just like this.”

“I am very grateful they weren’t, in that case-  _ Jim!”  _ Selek yelped when Jim bit his neck particularly hard. “Jim, we have copulated nine times-”

“Not enough.” Jim growled between bites “Never enough- can’t  _ ever  _ get enough-”

“Jim.” Selek mumbled, curling a hand around his neck now. “We should at least bathe.”

Jim lifted his head enough to waggle his eyebrows at him. “Sex in the water?”

_ “No.”  _ Selek replied, slipping fluidly out from under Jim. He felt his husband (and there was always a thrill at that thought. Jim was his  _ husband)  _ watching him as he walked into the water, sinking under the water for a moment before rising again. He looked back at Jim, and saw Jim staring at him like a blind man seeing the sun. “... Jim?” Selek muttered

“I love you.” Jim said “Sweet  _ god  _ I love you. I missed you so much Spock…” The hazel eyes were brimming with emotion, and then he rose and followed Selek into the water, pulling him into a warm hug. “Your  _ tiny.” _

“I am not.”

“You are. I dwarf you.”

“I am old.”

“And beautiful.” Jim told him, then kissed his forehead. “I love you, Spock.”

“Parted from me, and never parted?” Selek asked, purposefully phrasing it like a question.

“Always and never touching and touched.” Jim finished with a flourish, squeezing the Vulcan in his arms. Selek buried his face in Jim’s chest, and they stayed like that for a while. 

Their counterparts found them like that, holding one another with their waists safely hidden beneath the waves. Selek turns his head to look at them in time to capture the wonder in Kirk’s eyes. 

“I just-  _ Holy shit.”  _ he shakes his head “I mean, if you two had to get trapped on a planet for two years, at least it’s a pretty one.”

“I  _ know,  _ right?” Jim said with a grin. “I recommend swimming. There’s aloe plants against the wall that do like,  _ everything.  _ Shaving cream, massage oil, lotion, lube-  _ ow!”  _ He turned his head to glare down at Selek. “Did you just pull my hair?” 

Selek responded by sinking below the surface. He knew that Jim would follow him down, he always did.

 

* * *

 

That night, Selek slept better than he had in years on a bed of bulldog pelts, snuggled close to his husband. He’d forgotten how pleasurable just sleeping in the same bed as his husband was. They fell into old habits with  _ ridiculous  _ ease. It was a familiar pattern- wake up, prepare for a day on Sha Ka Ree, find food, wake up Jim. What  _ was  _ different was that now they didn’t have a specific purpose. The shuttle was in working condition, they knew how to defend themselves. They didn’t even have any major injuries to tend to- it was  _ strange. _

So, with nothing else to do, they use their second day to visit the vulcan city.

After the destruction, Selek had thought about this place a lot. How if they had been on vulcan, there would have been more vulcans due to their generational lines expanding. How they all would have died because of his failure. 

He does not enjoy the knowledge that he aided in the death of his home planet, but it  _ is  _ his fault. He knows that it is. No one will say it to his face, so he must say it in their stead.  _ Vulcan died because of him.  _

So they walk to the Vulcan city, and the moment they reach the unmarked limits both he and hi counterpart sink to the ground. 

Kirk, young and caring, instantly is at his first officer’s side, wanting to help. Jim goes over, stops him. He sees that they need this, need this time. 

“I can-” Spock falters, looking around and then at Selek “I can  _ feel-” _

“I was much the same way, when I came here the first time.” Selek replies. “It is-  _ strange.  _ The energy this city has. If I did not know so much of the nature of  _ katra  _ I would say that the  _ katra _ of all these people lingered here.” 

“How many?” Spock asks quietly, and Selek bows his head.

“2,057.” Selek told him, voice soft. “2,057 of our people are buried here.”

The other two went away, over to a different part of the city. 

The two vulcans bowed their heads, they grieved. They were silent, as was how vulcans were.

Their human sides ached.

 

* * *

 

“You two could stay here, you know.” Kirk said over lunch on the third day. “We could leave you here, say that you died of a heart attack or something Selek.”

Selek paused in his eating, then glanced at Jim. Jim stared back, then quietly shook his head. “I’ve been here alone- while I’ll always have fond memories of this place it’s definitely lost some of his wonder now that I’ve had to survive here alone with nothing to do.” he shook his head firmer “besides, I’m getting old. And even when we were here the first time the truth has always been  _ I don’t want to die here.”  _

Selek reached over and took his hand. Jim smiled at him, kissed his knuckles. “Besides, I hear there’s a Vulcan colony that needs building.” 

“I assure you, we would be most grateful for your help.” Spock said, eating some more of his food. Kirk stared at him for a moment, then glanced at Selek and Jim, then back at Spock. His eyes were soft, and Selek had a strange feeling in his chest that  _ something  _ was-

“We should have Selek marry us while we’re here.”

Spock stiffened, Jim broke out into a wide smile. Selek felt  _ elation  _ pour across the reformed bond. Kirk shrugged. “I’m serious- we’re here, away from your dad and the media circus, it’s beautiful, we’re happy, and we even have a witness. Let’s get married, Spock.”

“I’m still an admiral,” Jim said “I could marry you human style too.” 

Spock stared at Jim, then Kirk, then finally Selek.  _ Joy  _ leaked into his eyes and he started nodding. Kirk practically tackled him for a hug.

Jim squeezed his hand, and Selek allowed himself a smile.

The young ones were married twice at sunset. Jim and Selek allowed them to use the oasis that night, and they curled up on their pelts and slept. They dreamed of when they were young.

 

* * *

 

_ Apprehensive  _ was a good word to describe how Selek felt as he sat in the pilot seat. He had every confidence that his equations would hold up- but to what universe would they take them? To which universe would they be returned? 

Then again, if it  _ was  _ Selek and Jim’s world, they knew how to get the young ones back to their universe. The red matter equation would likely bring them to the same place. Possibly. There were too many  _ ifs  _ and  _ maybes  _ for comfort in this scenario, but Selek was nothing if not strangely.  _ Humanly  _ hopeful.

“We’re ready for launch, Ambassador.” Jim said, voice teasing ever so slightly on the title. Selek nodded once, mentally quadruple checked his list- everything was done. 

He swallowed, then started up the shuttle. 

 

* * *

 

The space they come into is empty, and Selek takes a deep breath before flicking the comm.  _ “Enterprise _ this is the shuttle  _ Iperion,  _ Please respond. Shuttle  _ Iperion  _ calling  _ Enterprise.  _ Please respond.” 

For a few heart stopping moments, there’s nothing. And then,

_ “Iperion this is Nyota Uhura, communications. We hear you ambassador. Is anyone in need of medical attention?” _

“No, miss Uhura. Handing the conn over to Captain Kirk.” He rose from his seat, and Kirk hopped in it. Selek settled next to Jim, slumping from relief. Jim kissed the side of his head, taking his hand and squeezing it. 

He knew they’d never make it back to Sha Ka Ree, not in this life.

There was a certain amount of peace in that knowledge.

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE COME VISIT ME ON TUMBLR www.flamingbluepanda.tumblr.com  
> AND GO SEE LISSY www.onedamnminuteadmiral.tumblr.com  
> See ya!


End file.
